It's a New Year at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax

Dreamboats and Miniskirts at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax, this spring.

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There's no need to go to Leeds or Manchester to see world class opera or West End shows.

Much closer to home, the Victoria Theatre in Halifax is offering a New Year calendar of events bursting with opportunites to feast on smash hits, past and present – from Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto and La Traviata to the Beatles-era Dreamboats and Miniskirts, and the latest in laughter line-ups with the Halifax Comedy Festival.

Announcing its 2015 programme, the theatre is also to host an Easter pantomime, Beauty and the Beast, and will be staging the Broadway musical comedy Avenue Q, which was named Best Musical of the Decade by the Sunday Times.

There’s even confirmation of next year’s winter pantomime, Cinderella - just as this season’s panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, completes its run.

One of the highlights of the year will be the arrival, in February, of the Russian State Ballet and Opera with its production of Rigoletto. The theatre has a successful ongoing relationship with the company, which will return in the autumn with La Traviata (about to be staged this spring by Opera North in Leeds).

Dreamboats and Miniskirts, the musical that follows the changing fortunes of two young couples in 1960s Merseyside, can be seen in April; while Avenue Q – co-created by one of the originators of The Book of Mormon – will hit the stage some time in the autumn. Avenue Q, which has a cast of human performers and puppets, is critically-acclaimed and has toured in more than 10 countries.

The Comedy Festival in autumn is still in the planning stages but the theatre will be hosting a number of high calibre comedians during the year, from Alan Carr to Bill Bailey.

For a full list of what’s coming up check out the theatre website www.victoriatheatre.co.uk or call the box office on 01422 351158 for a programme.